Codex Gospel of Thomas
This is the last page of the Nag Hammadi Codex II of the Gospel of Thomas here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nag_Hammadi_Codex_II#/media/File:Nag_Hammadi_coptic.gif Does Logos have a better file? I searched in Logos Library but could not find anything.
The last two lines look like
π*γα***ςιον
πκαταθωμάς
Uppercase
ΠΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ
ΠΚΑΤΑ ΘωΜΑς
The second of these is "according to Thomas" in Greek, with a pi stuck at the start for some strange reason. But this is a Coptic document, therefore even though it uses Greek letters, the language should not be Greek, correct? The line above it is more difficult to detect, and I am at a loss. At first, I thought it might be the Greek word εὐαγγέλιοv, but that cannot be. Perhaps it is the Coptic term for gospel, rather than the Greek one. But then why is the next line in Greek?
Comments
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The description of the image you reference:
[quote]English: Image of the Last Page of the Coptic Manuscript of the Gospel of Thomas. The title "peuaggelion pkata Thomas" is at the end. Courtesy of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate University.
The Coptic language although a direct descendent of Demotic Egyptian has many Greek loanwords. For the additions to the Greek alphabet see Coptic script - Wikipedia.
Search Results - Claremont Colleges Digital Library contains photos of the manuscripts for academic work.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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That information helps a bit but does not explain the why part of the question. Any advice on that part?
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I don't know Coptic and therefore don't know if it is in Greek or merely looks like Greek because of loanwords. But a chat box gives a plausible answer - I say plausible because, not knowing Coptic and Nag Hammadi manuscripts I can't evaluate the accuracy.
Gemini said:The Coptic Gospel of Thomas from Nag Hammadi does indeed end with a Greek line. There are a couple of reasons for this:
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The Codex Structure: The Gospel of Thomas is part of a larger bound manuscript called Codex II within the Nag Hammadi library. This codex also contains the beginning of another text, the Apocryphon of John, which is written in Greek. The final line of the Gospel of Thomas is simply the first line of the following text, accidentally copied by the scribe into the Gospel of Thomas.
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Scribal Practices: In ancient texts, scribes sometimes included short passages in a different language to indicate a shift in content or authorship. It's possible the scribe intended this as a marker for the beginning of the next text.
The ending with a Greek line doesn't affect the content of the Gospel of Thomas itself.
Did you try a chat bot before asking in the forums?
May I ask how much of your undergraduate work was on campus vs. correspondence? If it was not on campus, it might give me a hint re: how to respond to your assumptions.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Yes I tried a chatbot. I do not have any formal training in coptic language. Only Greek was my main fortified training. I only took 2 hebrew classes. I did all asychronous classes throughout my undergrad. Then my thesis defense and oral was synchronous. And my graduate certificates were all synchronous. I have only been on a campus 6-10 times and none of those for a lecture 'class.'
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Hi Christian.
Coptic is essentially the last form of demotic (Egyptian) but it uses the Greek alphabet plus IIRC seven other letters. It is also infused with a load of Greek loanwords, so if someone knows Greek, it is approachable.
The ending is not Greek, it is Coptic. IIRC the pi is like the Greek article. It is stuck on a ton of things that you'd otherwise think are Greek. For more info, look at "Coptic Language" in Factbook, which will probably point to the LBD article on the Coptic language, which explains a lot of this.
Christian Alexander said:The last two lines look like
π*γα***ςιον
πκαταθωμάςUppercase
ΠΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ
ΠΚΑΤΑ ΘωΜΑςMy guess is that the asterisks in the lower-case version represent what the transcriber could read from the document, the upper-case form is a reconstruction.
Christian Alexander said:
At first, I thought it might be the Greek word εὐαγγέλιοv, but that cannot be. Perhaps it is the Coptic term for gospel, rather than the Greek one. But then why is the next line in Greek?
As said above, it can _totally_ be the word ευαγγελιον (a loanword) with a π smashed in front of it because Coptic. Below is Jn 3:16-18 from the Sahidic Coptic with highlights that are likely Greek loanwords. (note: I'm not formally trained in Coptic so may be off on some of them). Note the Π and ΝΝ in front of many letters. Also the lunate sigma C instead of Σ. Note also how conjunctions are usually loanwords; as is the nomina sacra ΘΕ. (I think that's a nomina sacra anyway, again, not formally trained).
Rick Brannan | Bluesky: rickbrannan.com
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Christian Alexander said:
I have only been on a campus 6-10 times and none of those for a lecture 'class.'
Thank you. For me, that explains some of the unexpected gaps in your knowledge - you missed out on what one learns through classroom banter and mutual commiseration over difficult assignments. I will adjust my expectations accordingly.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Pretty accurate, Rick. Coptic is Egyptian written in the Greek alphabet, with indeed 6-7 Demotic letters (depending on the dialect used) to fill some necessary voids, such as the shai ϣ, the hori (our H) ϩ, and then some.
For a complete interlinear hyperlinked to online dictionaries for every lemma, with full indexes and concordances:
https://www.academia.edu/42110001
And if interested in scans from the NHL, the CCDL offers a rather chaotic overview: try https://www.academia.edu/108303788
The closing page to Thomas is Codex II, papyrus page 051 https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/nha/id/2842
from the A-Series
Transcribed, the title states
ⲡ.ⲉⲩⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲟⲛ
ⲡ.ⲕⲁⲧⲁ.ⲑⲱⲙⲁⲥ
I have inserted periods; the ⲡⲉ is the masculine definite article which also exists as ⲡ - and let me inform you that Coptic had his little secrets about regularities and irregularities, especially in the NHL.
I have never been able to make sense of the ⲡ.ⲕⲁⲧⲁ, which is one of many reasons for arguing against the alleged Greek provenance of these texts - but it's there, and it's not unique for Thomas. Philip: https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/nha/id/2856
To answer your question regarding nomina sacra: the NHL series any and all rules concerning them, with Spirit being the number one, 51% of all, followed by ⲓⲏⲥ/ⲓⲥ and ⲭⲣⲥ/ⲭⲥ (these get mixed in Coptic, even in singular texts), and succeeded by Saviour. The remaining 6% consists of ⲥ⳨ⲟⲥ, David and Jerusalem: https://www.academia.edu/124658153
And indeed, God nor Father exist as nomen sacrum, and your ⲑⲉ is a contraction for the feminine definite article with the noun for 'manner'; ⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ that closely follows it is the Coptic word for god
So, I can't help it but the title literally states:
The.evangellion
The.according-to.Thomas
Hope that helps!
Martijn Linssen
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Hi Christian, see my earlier reply
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